Lack of knowledge causing SBs slow adoption of cloud computing

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

According to a recent AMI report, small businesses’ resistance to cloud computing may be blamed on a lack of knowledge rather than expertise.

“Small businesses have been laggard in adopting new technologies that fall outside their comfort zone, often looking to larger firms as test cases” said Michael McDonald, senior associate of AMI-Partners.”

Small businesses represent a significant opportunity for cloud vendors, who can help companies reduce spending by providing such applications as Software-as-a-Service. While many companies have jumped on board, a significant portion of small businesses believe they are too small for such applications and do not have the necessary expertise.

However, McDonald states the larger issue is a lack of knowledge regarding the cloud. Worldwide small businesses have allocated 18 percent of their total software spending for SaaS software, but there is a significant gap between planned and actual spending.

Cloud service providers should understand the importance of educating the decision makers of small business about the simplicity of migrating to the cloud, the report states.

According to another study, small- and medium-sized businesses are showing more movement toward the cloud. In 2009, cloud-related ICT spending among SMBs exceeded $52 billion worldwide. The number is expected to exceed $95 billion in 2014.